


Fire Dancer

by BlueRoboKitty



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Action, Childhood Friends, Crime Drama, Explicit Language, F/M, Mild Sexual Content, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 21:29:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5943727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueRoboKitty/pseuds/BlueRoboKitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Months before the Conclave at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, Rinlyra Tabris is stationed in Amaranthine to retrieve a mysterious object for the Cadash family. When she is reunited with Ketthan Trevelyan, a childhood friend she has not seen in years, her mission takes a disastrous turn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire Dancer

**Author's Note:**

> Short story exploring Rin's work as a smuggler, and her reunion with Ketthan before the events of For Thine is the Kingdom. You don't need to read this for the main story, since the fic will address this scenario in more depth later on, but it does add a bit of context, especially in regards to their relationship and the kind of lives they had before Haven.

Amaranthine was a city bursting with song and sin, but unlike Denerim, did not have the horrible stench of misery seeping from its rotten core. Instead, the air was perfumed with fish and seasalt, a stink of its own at times, but always strangely refreshing. Tavern after tavern lined the streets, especially closer to the harbor, filling the night with echoes of lutes and pipes in a jovial cacophony that never slept. Drunk sailors stumbled through the streets, adding their own raucous off-key voices to the jubilant chaos. Merchants and prostitutes alike flashed their wares side by side, competing for the attention and money of those very same sailors. Rin relished in this kind of environment, the wild abandonment of all things which brought delirious pleasure. Around every corner, someone was either getting fucked or fucked over, and it only made everything that much more exciting.

Denerim was an awful city and miserable for it, brooding how it could never better itself no matter how much it tried. Amaranthine was an awful city and celebrated that fact, its raunchy environment promising days upon days of unfettered ecstasy, a high travelers would not come down until long after they left the city gates. The Grey Wardens ruled this place now, but at least even they appreciated a need to have an outlet for one’s pent up adrenaline and carnal desires after repressing them for weeks either on the road or out at sea.

The Unicorn’s Horn looked like a respectable tavern in Amaranthine’s upper-west noble district, made for those who had enough money to not rub elbows with the dirty peasants down on the docks, only if you didn’t know any better. Within the white polished walls and among the golden statues of unicorns dancing in delicate gardens, the elite were just as seedy as the scrub down in the underground. It was all hidden better. Under honey smiles and spring odors, these nobles gambled, cheated, stole, murdered. You could see the bloodstains if you knew exactly where to look. Five years serving House Trevelyan in Ostwick taught her exactly where to look; that’s why Ada chose her for this job.

Rin had more golden jewelry adorning her body than the red silks wrapping tantalizingly around her dancer’s legs as she swayed and twirled to the sultry beat of pipes and drums, her crimson hair flowing over her bare shoulders like flames. She had been working here for about three days now, not an easy job to get under normal circumstances, but the owner had been desperate. With the Mage-Templar war raging just outside the city, worse on the other side of the Waking Sea, more and more folk were demanding to lose themselves with illicit roots and sexy girls as they pretended the world wasn’t falling apart. Madame Peony didn’t have enough workers to accommodate them all.

“I can’t say I’m displeased about the war being good for my business,” the plump dwarf had told Rin, her beard trimmed to a delicate stubble beneath pounds of makeup, “but I also have a reputation to uphold. If I can’t give these people what they want, they’ll go elsewhere. And I’m sure we both know how fickle and difficult to please humans are.” Amaranthine was a city of cutthroat competition. The slightest dip in reputation could launch a careless merchant straight into the depths of poverty overnight.

Madame Peony hadn’t suspected a thing, of course. A delicate, young female elf looking for employment in this line of work in order to make decent money and a least one good meal a day was all but an everyday occurrence in the cities and Amaranthine was no exception. Unfortunately, many of these girls weren’t fit for such a job, either too shy or too plain or too ungainly. Rin was charismatic, attractive, and knew how to dance. Perky breasts, round curvy bottom, legs that could crush a man’s skull, she was exactly what the madame had been waiting for in the pile of applications she received every day.

It wasn’t a bad job, either, and Rin wondered if she would have been able to find a place here if her wanderlust didn’t make her want to travel elsewhere every other day. Just last night, she had kept the company of an “Antivan Prince” who was as much as Antivan as she was Dalish. But he had been eager like a stallion, and she rode him until he couldn’t talk anymore, then helped herself to her pay and a tad bit extra before leaving him tied to the bed for lying to her, bad boy. That had been quite fun, and if there was a repeat of that tonight, well, there would be no argument from her.

According to her missive, it would be two days at least for Lord Tylan to arrive with his shipment, but just in case the winds favored him this week, Rin made sure her party was in place well in advance. Her band of mercs couldn’t complain. They got to party for days straight in one of Amaranthine’s most elite taverns, all expenses paid, all the beer they could drink and whores they could lay, so long as they bathed and shaved on the regular. Nobles weren’t stupid and could smell their own. Not that it mattered. These guys were just the distraction, the fodder. So long as attention wasn’t drawn to _her,_ the mission would be successful.

As she hypnotized the patrons watching her with her sensual sway to the beat of exotic music, her ivory freckled face lifted in rapture, Rin was actually highly aware of everything and everyone around her, and had been watching the hustle and bustle with a keen, well trained eye. About forty shems were crammed in the common area, twenty-six patrons and fourteen “employees” give or take depending on who was on the floor at any given moment. That was a lot more patrons than normal according to one of the dancing girls; apparently, a whole bunch of shems were traveling from the Free Marches for some Chantry thing, stopping in Amaranthine for one last night of luxury before heading out to the isolating Frostbacks.

Eleven elves, not counting herself, five dancers and six servers, weaved in and out among them. Eight dwarves drank their fill and mingled with the rest, three of who sat in a dark corner and seemed to ignore everything else around them. They wore brightly colored tunics gilded with golden thread and relaxed in their chairs, drinking their ale and playing cards, but Rin’s sharp eyes picked up the gleam of metal beneath their clothes. Each one’s head was shaved close to the scalp and colored red.

Red Caps.

Her job just got a whole lot harder.

Red Caps were a mercenary group working for the Novraks, one of the Carta families that rivaled Ada Cadash’s family. This wasn’t Rin’s first time dealing with them, though she’d rather not if it was all the same.

“Ho, there, Lord Tylan. I’m relieved that you’ve arrived safely.”

She had almost stopped dancing in surprise, her light feet keeping her balance when it was shaken for a split second. Lord Tylan, his shipment, here already? Magic had to have been involved; the winds of the Waking Sea could be favorable, but they were never that benevolent.

Two men shook hands, and Rin could see the Red Caps watching them across the room in dark interest. “Yes,” Lord Tylan replied, “we set out earlier than intended. Knight-Captain Khearan is quite ruthless when it comes to schedule.” He chuckled good-naturedly. “It cannot be helped, I suppose. The sooner this mage-templar nonsense is over with, the sooner we can get back to real business.”

“Maker willing, my lord.”

Rin made her move without having to really think about it. Turning up the heat as it were, she sashayed to the table, letting her body do all the convincing. She caught Tylan’s gaze immediately, cutting off his conversation with his comrade. She didn’t even wait for him to beckon her, boldly approaching and yet remaining aggravatingly out of reach. She always read up on her targets before a job, and she knew Lord Tylan’s type like an old friend. He was the kind of guy who relied on his silver fox looks and money, surrounded by dozens of acquaintances but no real friends, a wife too boring and submissive for him to find any real passion with, kids he no longer paid that much attention to, someone who was desperate to live the fantasy of being punished for every wrong decision he had ever made so he didn’t have to do it himself.

Rin was not interested in delivering that kind of punishment. But she could make him think she was. The tiny scar on her lower lip and across her right eyebrow only emphasized her boldness, the kind that he fantasized about as he lay next to his poor sleeping wife.

“I must say,” Tylan remarked, clearing his throat, “the ladies of Amaranthine are quite enchanting, aren’t they?”

“Yes, enchanting,” his comrade replied with the slightest of sneers, and Rin could feel his eyes trailing along her pointed ears. Whatever. _He_ wasn’t her target, part of the distracting buzz of the environment to be ignored. She gave Tylan a sultry sweet smile for his compliment, and he was hooked.

“I will leave you to your entertainment, my lord,” the other guy said with not a single syllable of sincerity but they both ignored him.

Rin used her body to herd Tylan back into a chair, her presence dominating the very air around them. Her hips snapped in tiny circles just above his lap, teasing his senses with the promise of lusty secrets. She rocked and stretched in a languish display of all her body had to offer if he just simply _begged_ for it.

It was all she could do not to smirk at the Red Caps who were no doubt watching. There was no way they could get close to Tylan like this; they didn’t have the _assets_ she did.

“What is your name?” Tylan asked hoarsely, and she delighted in the sweaty struggle on his face as he fought to keep his noble composure, his growing desire betraying his lust. In the end, they were all just animals, weren’t they? 

She climbed onto his lap, her breasts pushing against his chest, and her plush lips brushed against the tiny hairs of his ear as she slid her hand down his thigh. He was breathing so hard, she wondered if he was on the verge of a heart attack. He was older, after all, not quite like the young bucks currently staring at her with hopeful eyes, pining for her attention next.

She leaned back, her silk brassiere just barely clinging to one breast. “Shhh,” she whispered, pressing an elegant finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.”

She winked at him, and then slipped into the crowd before he could recover from his shock.

\\\

It was a race now. It wouldn’t be too long before the Red Caps figured out what she had been up to and look for her. She clutched the key tight in her hand as she weaved into the crowd. There would be no time to check which door Lord Tylan’s key belong to, however. She needed to change into a disguise, something that blended with the darkness and protected her in case those Red Caps came looking for her. She couldn’t retrieve her clothes from the dressing room, either. Too many girls knew her face, and wouldn’t be able to keep their freshly powered noses out of her business.

She lightly trotted over to the halls beyond the common area as if making her way to the dressing room for a well-deserved break before her next performance. Instead, she slipped into one of the halls where the patrons’ rooms were located. Picking a room far enough in the back where no one would notice her, she crouched next to the door and pulled out one of the many pins decorating her hair with pearly baubles. Her pupils widened in her golden eyes, turning them a dark amber, and the darkness brightened enough for her to carefully manipulate the pin through the tumblers.

She would put on whatever clothes she found in here, and climb out the window and rendezvous with her mercs to form a new plan. She had left explicit instructions that if she was ever off the floor for more than ten minutes, something went wrong. They were a stupid bunch, even for shems, but Jerad was reliable. He had a good reputation for getting the job done when it push came to shove, no matter what his state of consciousness at the time.

After a few jiggles, the tiny click rewarded her ears, and she turned the knob to push her way into the room.

She got an eyeful of what could only be described as candy. Delicious looking candy staring at her with wide green eyes. Water dripped from his ginger hair, rolled down the smooth brown skin along the contours of his muscle. In his shock, he had enough time to grab a tiny, _tiny_ towel he held in front of his bare hips hiding what his daddy gave him. His full lips were parted in surprise, and Rin immediately thought about kissing them and running her fingers along the scruffy shadow that lined his face. Steam still rose from the tub he had just climbed out of, and it looked like there was room enough in there for two.

“Don’t mind me, sweetheart,” she said breathlessly, praising Andraste for looking out for her fellow woman and gracing her eyes with such magnificence. “You keep doin’ what you’re doin’, I don’t mind at all.”

Then she realized he was looking at her like he was staring at a ghost. “R… Rin?” he finally said. “Rinlyra? Is that really you?”

She immediately forgot about the situation when she heard her name, and all sexy thoughts vaporized like smoke. His voice was a lot deeper than the gangly teen she had once heard, and his face was much more mature, and – “Ketthan? Ketthan Trevelyan? Andraste’s tits, since when were you _shredded?_ Last I saw you, you were this skinny little thing with noodle arms! What am I even lookin’ at here? _”_

His blanched face reddened a little as he frowned. “That was almost five years ago, I’ve grown up since then, obviously,” he groaned.

“No, there’s growin’ up and then there’s _this,”_ she gestured to his whole body with her hands. “And what are _those_ even? I can wash my dirty clothes on that stomach!”

“Nice to know you haven’t changed much,” he replied and this time he actually smiled a little. “But what are you doing in here? _Why_ are you in myroom?”

She placed her hands on her hips and pouted at him. “Isn’t that somethin’? We haven’t seen each other in _years,_ and you wanna focus on technicalities.”

“You _picked_ the _lock_ to my _room,”_ he shot back dryly. “I’m not even going to ask why you’re in the habit of breaking into people’s rooms when they’re bathing, but could you at least turn around a moment? At least let me get dressed.”

“You’re still such a potato,” Rin muttered as she did as he asked. She balled her hands into fists and pressed them tight between her breasts as if she could calm down her wildly beating heart. Her ears radiated with sharp heat. They both had still been children, not quite adults yet, when Rin left House Trevelyan for good, and sure, he had always been a kinda cute kid but this, no, she was not prepared for _this._ Praise the Maker that puberty treated him well, she supposed.

“So what are you doin’ in Amaranthine?” she asked before her thoughts got too wild. “Takin’ a nice sinful vacation?”

He snorted, and she could hear the fabric of his clothes sliding along his skin. “I wish that’s all we were doing. But we have Circle business. Divine Justinia is hosting a Conclave to deal with the Mage-Templar war, and Khearan and I are there to represent Ostwick.”

“That sounds… really borin’, actually.”

“Heh. Well, if it gets this rebellion under control, then it’ll be worth a few months of inconvenience. And I’ve never been to Amaranthine before, so there’s that.”

Oh, precious lamb, this city was going to _eat him alive._ Maker’s balls, if only she could take him with her, show him all the sinful delights Amaranthine had to offer. Stupid Red Caps. If they weren’t around, she could take a day or two extra for this job, have some well-deserved fun. And she would make sure they had _a lot_ of fun together.

“You can turn around now,” Ket said, and she watched him sit on the edge of one of the beds and pull a leather boot up his leg.

“What? No dress?” she asked with a smirk.

“I don’t want to exactly advertise that I’m a mage,” he retorted. “And word on the raven is that those attending the Conclave are targets for assassination.”

“That sounds a lot more exciting.”

“Sure, if you want to think of it that way.” He glanced at her, and the blush growing across his face reminded Rin that she was barely wearing anything, just fine silks and jewelry that covered her only in the just the right places to titillate hot and bothered patrons. “So, um, you actually work here?”

“Recently.” She clasped her hands behind her back, arching her chest out a little and squeezing her legs cutely together. “Admiring the uniform, yeah? You’re not the only one who’s grown up, y’know.”

Ket’s face went bright red as he looked away. “That… I didn’t mean it like that!” he protested, his voice cracking ever so slightly. “We-we’re talking about me, and I still don’t know what you’ve been up to lately.”

“Hmm.” As much as she wanted to keep teasing him and spend time with him, Rin knew she had to cut this short. She was grateful she got see Ketthan again, and in such fine form, too, but Maker, he was a _distraction_ she couldn’t deal with right now. “So, Lord Tylan,” she began, choosing her words carefully. “One of the minor nobles of Ostwick, yeah? Did he travel with you guys?”

“Yeeeee-es,” Ket replied, drawing out the word as he looked at her with suspicion. “Why?”

With the sweetest of smiles, she glided over to him, capturing his gaze and refusing to let him go. “I need a favor, Kitty-Ket. I need to know which room Lord Tylan is stayin’ in. He gave me a key, but forgot to tell me the room number, can you believe it? And also, I need to borrow some clothes.”

\\\

Lord Tylan’s room was located on the second floor in one of the larger suites. The halls were clear of Red Caps, but that didn’t mean she could afford to relax. She unlocked the door with Tylan’s key and slipped inside, the shadows of the hall keeping her concealed from anyone who might be watching. The room was dark as pitch inside, and it took even her eyes a moment to adjust.

“When you said you were working,” Ket hissed behind her, “I thought you meant you were a dancer, not sneaking in people’s rooms.”

“You could always go downstairs and enjoy yourself and leave me to my work,” she whispered back, her words sharp with annoyance. Why did he have to come with her? Why was she letting him?

“And trust me, I want to,” he shot back. “But I can’t shake this feeling I’ll regret it if I do.”

“Fine,” she groaned, defeated. “Make yourself useful and look for some documents or somethin’, anythin’ that lets me know about all the cargo on your ship.”

They set to work searching through the room. Tiny flames danced from Ket’s fingers like candlelight, and he took care not to make it too noticeably bright. Sneaking around wasn’t something new to him, and Rin appreciated how thorough he could be in a short amount of time. Sorting through desks, drawers, and chests, they eventually came up with a few missives, letters, and other documents that Rin sifted through to get all the information they need.

“I didn’t even realize he was smuggling anything,” Ket remarked.

“Yeah, I wonder what could be so important that a noble actually did the dirty work himself. None of these documents say what’s in this box I’m supposed to recover.”

“Unless Tylan has no idea he’s a mule.”

“It’s a possibility. Ada didn’t give me all the details, but I do know he has connections to the Carta.” She bit her lower lip, tapping her foot. Oh, there was a letter here. She recognized the Cadash family seal. But why would he have a letter from Cadash? “I don’t like this, Ket. There’s too many unknowns. I have no idea what I’m lookin’ for, Red Caps are here, and – “

She cut off when she heard footsteps in the hall. Ket didn’t seem to notice, his tiny human ears hadn’t heard a thing yet, but her expression was enough to make him shake the fire from his hand, enveloping the room in heavy darkness once again. Without a word, Rin pulled him toward the window and opened it, allowing a hot breeze inside. “Looks like we’re doin’ this whether we’re ready or not,” she said softly.

“Doing what?”

“Goin’ for it.”

“Going for _what?”_

“Look, if you wanna be kidnapped by Red Caps, that’s your business, but I don’t have time to rescue you. Later!”

And Rin leaped out the window.

\\\

At the height of summer, Amaranthine’s humidity was hotter and thicker than the private entertainment rooms of her taverns, the kind of heat that suffocated you in your own clothes. Rin was glad she was only wearing one of Ket’s tunics, held around her waist with a leather belt tied in place like a sash. It wasn’t practical in the slightest, but she didn’t have time to sneak back into the dancers’ room to get her normal clothes like she had originally intended. Jerad had probably figured out by now that she was in trouble, but she didn’t have time to circle back to the rendezvous point.

Ket jumped down to the ground beside her after shimmying down the wall like a lizard. “Huh. You’d make a pretty decent rogue,” she remarked as he wiped the dirt off his hands.

“Thanks, I guess,” was his nonchalant reply.

Rin still wasn’t sure why she was letting him tag along, other than he was going to whether she liked it or not, and she couldn’t waste time arguing with him. Maybe it would be beneficial to bring a mage along, after all. They took the back alleys from the noble district down to the docks, keeping to the shadows, slipping unnoticed past raucous sailors and night ladies, carefully avoiding the forms moaning against the walls for all to see. The closer they got to the harbor, the seedier the atmosphere became, alcohol and sex mixing in soupy, salty humidity. Even the cobblestone road was sticky with some unknown substance, and Rin wish she at least had time to find a pair of shoes.

Ships lined up along the harbor as far as the eye could see, packed in tight like sardines either fleeing from the Mage rebellion or heading toward the Frostbacks to do something about it. In front of them, the warehouses stood like its own city, wooden structures fortified with iron filled to their ceilings with all kinds of illicit goodies. Rin moaned inwardly, taking a deep breath. It made her tingle right in her naughty bits just thinking about all the treasures she could find if she were able to comb through just one of these warehouses at her leisure. Alas.

Guards stalked up and down the paths between warehouses, on high alert for people just like her. With more people staying in the city than usual, Rin wasn’t the only one entertaining thiefy thoughts. The warehouse she was looking for, however, stood in a corner overshadowed by higher buildings, plenty of blindspots. The guards might be extra vigilant, but there were only so many of them. It would take one just under ten minutes to walk from here down the row of buildings and back again, plenty of time.

“Give me a boost,” she instructed Ket once they snuck beneath the back window. “And don’t look up my tunic.”

“Ha ha,” he replied dryly, but let her scramble up his shoulders and then lifted her toward the window like she weighed nothing. “Hey, careful where you’re kicking your foot!”

“Sorry,” she said, an automatic reply as she was busy scanning the inside of the building. Boxes were stacked against the window, as if inviting her to come on in and take everything her brassiere could fill. She peered down at Ket to help his short self through the window just in time to see him take a running jump, bounce off the wall with his foot, and grab the sill with his hands before hoisting himself up. For a split second, their faces were very close, his warm breath tingling her lips. Rin quickly scooted back to give him room to enter.

“Okay, are you a secretly a rogue because I’m pretty sure that’s not somethin’ they normally teach soft noble brats in noble school.”

He smirked at her. “You taught me that, remember?”

“Oh, right, I did, didn’t I?” And she couldn’t stop the warmth seeping through her at the memory. “When we were tryin’ to steal apple cobblers from the kitchen because your mom wouldn’t let us have any before dinner!”

His smile was wide and playful. “And you jumped too high and bashed your face into the top casing.”

She giggled, and touched the scar on her lip. “Not my most graceful moment. Blood got everywhere.”

“That’s what you get for being a show off.”

“I was _not_ showin’ off!”

“Yes, you were.”

They really should be looking for whatever it was Rin had to look for. But Ket wouldn’t stop staring at her scar, and his gaze was so intense it made her heart pound all over again, and she unconsciously began leaning closer to him –

The boxes beneath them began to shake and then they both tumbled to the floor in an avalanche of cargo. Rin had been so distracted, she didn’t hear the dwarves come in, more Red Caps, almost a dozen of them. A few that got to them first dragged both Rin and Ket from beneath the boxes. One dwarf held her arms tight behind her back as he slammed her back to the floor, making it difficult for her to move. Ket was lying very, very still.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Rinlyra Tabris, still blindly doing the bidding of the Cadash family I see.” The dwarf sneering at her had an elegant black beard with golden beads and bright jewels braided into the locks. Unlike the Red Caps, he had a head full of curly black hair peeking beneath his hat and spilling over his fur coat. One of his bejeweled gloved hands held a silver cane with a vicious dragon head. Orvin Novrak, another familiar face she got to reunite with tonight.

He threw a large bag onto the floor. Something ball-shaped rolled out of the bag and stopped just a few feet from her face. She got a good look at the dead eyes and shocked expression of the head that had once been a part of one of her mercs. Jerad. Too bad. He had been a handsome one, very eager to please her whenever she sent one of her plush smiles his way, and she had even thought about maybe giving him a bit of a reward of her own once all this was over. Now he just looked stupid and dead, and she couldn’t remember what had ever made her attracted to him to begin with.

“Did you honestly believe my men would not recognize you in the tavern?” Orvin continued. “Your world has grown significantly smaller, little knife-ear, and you’ve gotten sloppy. There are few places you can go where you won’t be recognized.”

“D’aww, are you still mad over that night in Kirkwall?” she said, each word dripping with sickening sweetness. “And here I thought we had a good time together.”

He chuckled. “A few family heirlooms and a pair of breeches aren’t exactly things that sour my mood, darling. However, this little game between us has long ago grown tiresome. For the sake of the beautiful memories we created together, I will kill you swiftly before I have my men cut your ears off as a trophy.”

“That’s just a tad excessive, isn’t it? C’mon, we can work somethin’ out, can’t we? For old times’ sake?”

He smiled and it almost looked like he admired her. “My dear. We both know you are anything but spineless. Any deal I make with you will be twisted and used against me, just like you did years ago when I had once called you mine. In fact, I am doing Ada quite the favor by getting rid of you before you do the same to her. You two, take care of her. Make it swift. Briyon, grab the boy – “

One dwarf fell to the ground when Ket’s leg swept out to knock him over. In one swift movement, he grabbed the dwarf’s sword and used it to slash across the face of the other. The lackey screamed, grabbing at his face, blinded by blood and his own hands. Ket turned on his heel to drive the sword in the throat of the one still recovering his breath, and the dwarf choked as blood bubbled up his throat to spill out of his mouth. _Good boy._

The dwarf holding Rin down released her in surprise, and she drove her elbow deep into his side, then spun around to her feet. Grabbing his head, she slammed her forehead into his soft nose. She yanked the crossbow off his back, and kicked him in the face when he tried to reach for her. If he wasn’t dead, he probably wished otherwise.

“Idiots! Why didn’t you check to see if the mage was down!?”

“That’s a _mage?”_ The surprised dwarf didn’t get an answer as a bolt from Rin’s crossbow shot right through his temple and dropped him dead instantly. That’s what he got for being distracted. More Red Caps charged at them. Rin focused on the ones further in the back. She rained death upon them, and several fell to the reddening ground before they could load their own weapons. She could hear blades clashing as Ket skillfully defended against their daggers. Their gargled moans as he cut one down after the other before they could defend themselves caressed her ears like a symphony. She wished she could watch him, see his skill with her own eyes, but that would mean her death. Judging by the sound of blade slicing through soft flesh, he was too fast for them to keep up with.

The door of the warehouse burst wide open as more Red Caps poured in.

 _Did Novrak send their entire force? All this? For just a shipment?_ Nothing could be that valuable.

Orvin disappeared into the chaos as Red Caps rushed toward the deadly pair. Moonlight poured in from the door and gleamed along the sharp edges of their axes and the curves of their armor. Before Rin could load another bolt, Ket grabbed her and hoisted her up the pile of boxes. “What are you doin’!?” she shrieked as he shoved her out the window.

“Hug the ground and get as close to the wall as possible!”

“What!?”

_“Do it!”_

A part of Rin wanted to argue more but something in his voice made her trust him as she did as instructed. Then suddenly, Ket was on top of her, covering her with a blanket of sweat and blood.

_BOOOOOM!_

The very earth beneath her shook as the world erupted in crimson light soaring directly over their heads like a bird of fire, unbearable heat, and a clap louder than thunder exploded in her ears. Then everything went suddenly dark and eerily silent but for a sharp ringing from deep within her skull. Her head swam, and she thought she was being pulled to her feet but she wasn’t sure. It was like moving underwater or in a dream. Maybe this was what death felt like.

Ket yelled something at her, his mouth forming a single word and his face twisted with desperation. She couldn’t hear him, even though he was obviously yelling at the top of his lungs. Nothing but that loud ringing that dominated her head. The air was perfumed with the putrid odor of sulfur, and her stomach twisted in sickening knots. It wasn’t the burning scent like he had. His smell was warm and crisp and gentle, always, even when there was quite a bit of blood mixed in. This odor was hot and suffocating and terrifying, burning her from within her very lungs, and she wasn’t convinced she had survived… she knew what had happened, but the word for it escaped her. Like her mind didn’t want to believe it.

Instinct took over when her brain couldn’t catch up, telling her body to run with no thought of her own, and so she ran. Ket’s hand clasped painfully tight around hers, he was so fast for a short guy, imagine, an elf barely able to keep up with a shem, and they ran and ran before that heat could consume them. Rin couldn’t feel her feet on the ground, or grasp any sense of her equilibrium for that matter. Her head wouldn’t stop swimming around like a bobbing fish, or the world was swimming because it had broken apart around her, she wasn’t sure anymore, and she couldn’t hear anything at all, and every single breath set her chest ablaze, and she was pretty sure she was actually dead as if they were running after one last chance for life before the Maker caught up to them.

Rin couldn’t go any further. She collapsed on the ground. Her lungs screamed for fresh air as they tried to filter out the smoke and brimstone that had buried themselves in her chest. Each intake of air made her cough and cough, and her muscles screamed in pain as her own sides stabbed deep into her. Ket had released her hand at some point, and he bent close to her, breathing heavily with his hands gripping his knees, his hair matted against his sweat and blood that wasn’t his own. The ringing had stopped, and while her ears continued to pop as they tried to make sense of the world again, she could hear each deep inhale.

“What… what did you do?” she whispered, her voice unable to rise any higher.

“I set off an explosion spell,” he explained between deep gasps. “There might have been gunpowder in there, too, that was a lot bigger than I thought it would be. Or maybe…” He trailed off and shook his head. “Sometimes… my magic is a lot more powerful… um, like when I’m like distressed or something.”

“Distressed? _Distressed!”_ Rin leapt to her feet, swaying a little for her balance still hadn’t entirely corrected itself. She could still barely hear herself, and so she screamed the words in his face. “You _blew up_ everything in that warehouse! It’s all _destroyed_ now, all of it! Ada is going to _KILL_ me! Do you think weekly Thursday teatime is enough to protect me from royally fuckin’ up her carefully laid plans!? _Do you!?_ ”

“I saved our lives!” Ket shot back heatedly.

“You _botched_ my mission is what you did!”

“So you think we could have taken on twenty Red Cap Carta on our own?”

“Apparently, we can, considerin’ you just blew the lot of them directly to the side of the Maker! Andraste’s Holy _Cunt,_ for an incredibly smart lad, Ketthan Trevelyan, you ain’t got the sense the Maker gave you! When you are in an enclosed space, you don’t set off _a fucking explosion!_ ”

“I – “ Ket began but let the word hang in the air. In that moment, his hurt and remorseful gaze made him look very, very young indeed. Too young and too inexperienced in actual combat to have been dragged into this mess. This was entirely her fault, she knew that already. She had been sentimental and sloppy, distracted by her feelings and got decent people killed who didn’t have to die this way.

Rin began to frantically pace, wanting to throttle something and vomit at the same time. She couldn’t panic, she _shouldn’t_ panic, this wasn’t good at all, not at all, she needed to get back there, salvage what she could.

Smoke and fire rose high in the air. Mini explosions continued to burst in the heat and the night filled with terrified screams. The warehouse itself was a robust structure that had withstood worse in its time, but the same could not be said for the contents within its walls. It was hopeless. If Ket hadn’t understood how his own magic worked, they both probably would be dead, too, from the backdraft.

Rin sank back to her knees, tears stabbing at her eyes as she watched her life drift away along with the smoke. What did it matter? She was dead now, regardless. Ada was a good friend, but she was Carta first and foremost, and did not tolerate failure.

“I can’t go back,” she whispered at the grass. “I can’t.”

Ket knelt down next to her. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, and his genuine apology made her all the more frustrated. She knew she shouldn’t be angry with him, he had no idea and he was only trying to keep them alive. But she had never failed a job before, not ever, it was how she was still alive after everything she’d done, and now her lucky streak had finally come to an end. But she didn’t have the strength to shoulder all the blame right now, it was just too big.

“I know it might not make up for it,” he added, “but if you have nowhere to go, you can stay with me.”

She stared at him. “Work for your house again?” He had to be kidding.

“W-well, I meant, you can come with us to the Conclave.” Ket shifted his weight around the balls of his feet. “Khearan and I can keep you safe, at least until you figure out how to deal with your boss. Maybe we can figure out how to get whatever this Ada person needs.”

How could someone with so much going for him be simultaneously this naïve? Still, the offer was incredibly sweet, and she did like the idea of living at least a little bit longer. She was only delaying the inevitable, but since when was that ever new?

She looked away, watching as the docks went up in flame, and responded with a soft, simple, “Okay.”

Her naïveté had been destroyed long ago, on the day her sister was taken from the alienage. The moment the word left her mouth, Rinlyra Tabris knew nothing would be okay again for a long, long time. 


End file.
